Saturday, February 17, 2007

I've often thought there was room for a blog specialising in the crap spun by defence solicitors - the sort of thing you'll see in your local paper each week.

"Fred Bloggs, defending, said that since his release from an eight-year sentence for manslaughter, his client had made a determined effort to go straight, with only two convictions over a five-year period. Tragically the death of his grandmother, ongoing relationship difficulties, and his struggles with addiction had left him vulnerable to irrational outbursts of violence, for which no help had been made available by social workers or the local health authorities."

Paul Grumbar, defending, said in the year since the offence Minaides had undergone a miraculous' change in his lifestyle. He said he has been reconciled with his family, settled down with a new girlfriend, got a job and stopped taking drugs.

Having started taking drugs as a 14-year-old he said Minaides had become hopelessly addicted and even on drug treatment orders continued to use. He said that he was only selling cocaine to fund his own habit but he has now moved away from his old haunts and old friends to sever the link with drugs, Mr Grumbar said.

If he were jailed he said Minaides associating with other users in prison could set back his rehabilitation and return him to addiction.

In January 2005 Minaides escaped a jail term after being caught with more than £1,000 worth of ecstasy tablets in his bedroom. Although he was charged by the police with possession with intent to supply the Crown Prosecution Service reduced the allegation to simple possession. As well as 109 ecstasy tablets, police also found 0.427 grams of amphetamines, 249 grams of cannabis resin, 19 diazepam tablets and some herbal cannabis with a total street value of between £1,400 and £1,500. He was sentenced to a drug treatment and testing order after telling the court how he was taking 15 ecstasy tablets a day along with other drugs.

Recorder Timothy Mousley ? :

Passing sentence the judge said that the matters were "so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified". However he said bearing in mind Minaides' progress and vulnerability should he be jailed he would pass a community order. He told him to complete 200 hours of community service and a one year probation order and if he failed on it he could be jailed. He said: "I would have in mind, bearing in mind your guilty plea and when it was entered, it would be four years' imprisonment."

So he only has to survive unbusted for a year, as he presumably did in 2005, then he can do it all over again.

"He (Scott Thompson) is known to carry a knife and we are aware of two other incidents in which allegations of rape have been made against him - one in London where an investigation is still continuing."

So dangerous that he was given bail for an alleged rape and stabbing - leaving him free to rape and stab Catherine Grosstephan, aged 89.

He raped her twice and stabbed her six times when she tried to run away. He was arrested the same day but police later bailed him - despite compelling evidence including his DNA on the woman's underwear and the previous rape allegation - when she said she did not want to pursue the case.

I see. The new politically correct 'we always prosecute' police give a man bail despite a woman in hospital with stab wounds and DNA evidence. I think this is one of those cases when I'm with Julie Bindel.

When considering the length of a custodial sentence, judges should bear in mind the fact that, at present, the prison regime was likely to be more punitive because of prison overcrowding.

Particular care should be exercised before imposing a custodial sentence on a first offender since association with seasoned criminals might make reoffending more likely rather than deter it, particularly where the offender was young.

Enforcement of fines was now rigorous and effective and, where the offender had the means, a heavy fine could often be an adequate and appropriate punishment.

The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, so stated when: (i) Allowing an appeal by Trigger Seed against a prison sentence of six months imposed by Mrs Recorder Simler at Chelmsford Crown Court on January 8, 2007 following his plea of guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm. A seven-day prison sentence was substituted.

(ii) Allowing an appeal by Phillip Stark against a nine-month prison sentence imposed by Judge Cutler at Winchester Crown Court on December 8, 2006 following his pleas of guilty to bigamy and failing to surrender to bail. A three-month prison sentence was substituted.

I have no law training, but it looks as if a new legal principle has just emerged from Lord "Don't jail muggers if they're in a gang" Phillips' fertile brain. The punishment element of a prison sentence is positively correlated with the degree of prson overcrowding - via an obscure algorithm that cuts six months to seven days and nine months to three months.

I wonder what the victim of the wonderfully named Trigger Seed (what's his background ?) thinks of 7 days for ABH. If I assault Lord Phillips and cause ABH - an idea that seems unusually appealing for some reason - will I get 7 days ? And if a few of us do it in a gang, will we walk free, citing 'peer pressure' ?

Lord Phillips was educated at Bryanston and Cambridge, lives in Hampstead.

Manzur Hussain could be dismissed because he has not attended a meeting for six months - the limit set by the Government. But he has asked fellow councillors not to sack him when they meet to discuss his future on Wednesday. He is claiming that he has been prevented from attending meetings since August 23 by an 18-month sentence for defrauding the returning officer at the 2004 local elections. However, he was only actually jailed on November 23 and had previously been on unconditional bail. And investigations by the Lancashire Telegraph have revealed that during that time he could have attended three meetings including a full council meeting on October 18. In December the Lancashire Telegraph revealed how Hussain, 58, of Milner Street, Burnley, was still claiming his council allowance of £2,100 which was £175 a month.

The other council seat, Brunshaw, went from Labour to Lib Dem, with the BNP second. The Labour vote collapsed in what looks like tactical voting. 39% turnout is pretty high for a non-Asian area.

Well, the BBCs report of David Cameron's interview on the subject of dead teenagers is still in 'this is a problem that affects all of us' country.

But the further away from the liberal blind eye you move, the more people seem to be opening their eyes.

Even the Indie seems, while still tiptoing, at least to be tiptoing around the actual problem.

There are sensitive issues involved. These latest shootings have fallen under the category of so-called "black-on-black" crime. It is clear that there is a significant lack of positive role models for young black boys. Black fathers often play too small a role in the lives of their children.

Makes a change from the usual stuff about demonising single mothers, doesn't it ?

The Indie is still the Indie though.

There are wider social issues here too. Deprivation must bear some of the blame.

In the 1920s there was deprivation - real as well as relative - which makes Peckham look like the wealthy place it is. There were also a couple of million young men around who'd served in World War One, and an awful lot of trophy pistols on the top of the wardrobe. And low crime - including gun crime.

Joseph Harker in the Guardian is a lot closer.This is not about guns ... Much attention has focused on the fact that many victims, and their killers, are black - which is impossible to ignore, though it makes many people uncomfortable ... Fathers have continued to abandon mothers, who feel they have to cope even though they've lost their traditional support. Children have often been the ones to suffer ... This is not to blame single parents for their circumstances. It takes a mother and a father to raise a child.

Gun crime has risen inexorably in the past two decades — despite a dip of 14 per cent last year. But it is highly localised, and involves the Afro-Caribbean population disproportionately ... At heart is the breakdown, or often complete absence, of family structure, especially within the black community ... It is not just a question of money: millions have been spent in Brixton and elsewhere in South London since riots 20 years ago. It is a question of changing a culture ...

The truth is that the laws relating to possession of guns are nowhere near tough enough.

As a commenter said :

It is foolish to talk of mandatory minimum sentences. You know who will get these: the farmer who has an irregularity in his paperwork, not the gang member. For the former is an easy collar for the police (driven by Home Office targets) yet the latter is not. So the farmer does 5 years, 10 years, 15 years (whatever wins the politicians auction) and the gangster never even gets caught.

The boy, aged two, is seen crying after being punched in the face by the three-year-old girl and is told by one of the four women in the room "not to be a wimp or a faggot" and to hit her back. The four women, all from the same family, are heard laughing as the toddlers are urged to keep on fighting.

When the boy tries to get away and climb into an armchair, the women shout at the girl to punch him again. She does and the boy is urged to fight back, but says: "No, I don't want to."

The girl leaves the room, and when she comes back the two are taunted and told to fight again.

The court heard that when interviewed by police, one of the women said: "I didn't see any harm in toughening them up. I done the same with my own children."

Back in the 1950's, dashing young James Morris was a role model to thousands of aspiring journalists, filing his coded reports from the South Face of Everest. We thought he seemed essentially innocent.

Innocent! Dear God! Half a century, and nobody thinks that now. Far from being the most beloved journalist on earth, today he is the most thoroughly detested. The rot really started to set in, in my view, when he had his "gender reassigned" in Casablanca.

Now she's just another shrill anti-US liberal. Is there any hope that this can change, that she can recapture the respect of the world once more ?

I doubt if, in his own words, the pendulum will ever swing back. Given that it was last seen in a Casablanca dustbin.

"The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy or views of UNICEF."

It's written by breast-beating leftie Peter Adamson, founder of the New Internationalist, a chap who 'divides his time between Oxford and Tuscany' - as one does.

The only useful thing about it is that he (correctly IMHO) treats not having both biological parents as a negative point. There's a mountain of evidence to support that view. For a leftie liberal, he's surprisingly honest about this - although you can feel his pain.The use of data on the proportion of children living in single-parent families and stepfamilies as an indicator of wellbeing may seem unfair and insensitive. Plenty of children in two-parent families are damaged by their parents relationships; plenty of children in single-parent and stepfamilies are growing up secure and happy. Nor can the terms 'single-parent families' and 'stepfamilies' do justice to the many different kinds of family unit that have become common in recent decades. But at the statistical level there is evidence to associate growing up in single-parent families and stepfamilies with greater risk to well-being – including a greater risk of dropping out of school, of leaving home early, of poorer health, of low skills, and of low pay. Furthermore such risks appear to persist even when the substantial effect of increased poverty levels in single-parent and stepfamilies have been taken into account (although it might be noted that the research establishing these links has largely been conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom and it is not certain that the same patterns prevail across the OECD).

I'm sorry to see senior Tories who should know better (well, George Osborne, anyway - although his more detailed comments seem surprisingly sensible) using this report as a pooey stick to beat the Government with.

I don't know. When the 'BNP bomber' story first broke it sounded pretty sinister."what is believed to be a record haul of chemicals used in making home-made bombs was found in Colne ... The 22 chemical components recovered by police are believed to be the largest haul ever found at a house in this country ... She said a search of Jackson's home had uncovered rocket launchers, chemicals, BNP literature and a nuclear biological suit"

Supt Smith added: "We are making inquiries in relation to what we have found at his address and to establish what offences he may have committed. He's not a terrorist and it's not a bomb factory but we are interested in what we have seized from his house. It will take expert advice to establish exactly what he has got."

Now I'm getting the distinct impression that Mr Comedy Cockup again triumphs over Mr Conspiracy. Our Junior Chemistry Set wasn't being monitored by the security services, but by a far more sinister organisation - the social services.

Kerena Cottage suffered mental health problems and told her social worker that her husband had several crossbows and chemicals stored in his home. She also revealed he wanted to shoot Mr Blair and local peer Lord Greaves, Miss Blackwell told the court. When police raided his house on 28 September 2006 they discovered 21 types of chemicals which, when combined, could form explosives. Miss Blackwell said they also uncovered a document called the Anarchy Cookbook, which detailed how to make different types of bombs.

I presume that's the Anarchist's Cookbook, put together thirty-plus years ago by some anarchist from the Orkneys, and in my youth available by mail-order from the Private Eye small ads. But what's happened to the rocket launcher, which seems to have turned into a bow and arrow ? And what of the 'largest haul' ? Was it largest in terms of the number of chemicals found ? Did it include rice and sugar ?

The court heard how Cottage was arrested and that 19 different chemicals and large amounts of rice and sugar were found during a search of the couple’s house on Talbot Street, Colne in September 2006.

A litre of hydrogen peroxide was also found at the house ... Ms Wilson conceded that seven of the chemicals found were either pointless or unnecessary for explosives, and one was a dietary supplement.

My chemistry tells me you need fuel and an oxidiser to make something go bang. One bottle of peroxide isn't going to set Lancashire ablaze. 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser sounds nearer the mark. By which token there must be a dozen farmers within a few miles of Mr Cottage with the wherewithal. I wouldn't ask how many of them would like to shoot Mr Blair.

Mr Cottage and the lovely Kerena don't sound like the most solidly reality-based members of the community. And his friend looks altogether too much like the Cure's Robert Smith for a staid man's sleep o'nights. But I'm not altogether sure we've prevented another 7/7 here - perhaps at most a mini-Waco ?

Mr Cottage does however seem likely to discover that a desire to make improvised explosive devices, when mixed with right-wing politics, can be extremely hazardous to your liberty.

UPDATE - I should point out that a desire to make improvised explosive devices has historically been common among British youth. About twenty-odd years ago UK sellers of sodium chlorate weedkiller started adding fire-depressant chemicals to it, in reponse to the small but persistent toll of dead or maimed children who would make bangs by mixing it with sugar.

UPDATE2 - according to an anonymous commenter, Mr Cottage had previously been a Tory party member for 30 years.

A West Yorkshire councillor has married a Gambian woman half his age within days of meeting her on holiday. Bob Thompson, 52, is spending Valentine's Day without his new bride, Fatou Jammeh, while they wait for her visa application to be approved.

If it is approved, the 25-year-old will then join him in Elland with her eight-year-old daughter, Sira. Mr Thompson, a Liberal Democrat councillor on Calderdale Council, said he had also converted to Islam.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

CROYDON'S biggest gang has banned its rivals from the town centre, it has emerged this week. Don't Say Nothing (DSN) has proclaimed Croydon its "turf" and the recent escalation in gang warfare locally is understood to be linked to this ban. Other gangs are said to have defied the warning and that is said to have caused town centre fights and even a recent stabbing at East Croydon station. North End has become a particular flash-point as DSN sees this as the heart of its turf.

News of the "ban" came at a Croydon Youth Court case last Friday where a 15-year-old boy appeared charged with affray over a town centre battle caught on CCTV. He was captured on film fighting with a broom from a streetsweeper's trolley as groups affiliated to DSN and Thornton Heath gang Straight Merking (killing) Niggas,also known as SMN,clashed. His opponent, who was knocked to the floor in the brief fight at 6.30pm on January 5, wielded a shovel also taken from the roadside. Olivia Kong,prosecuting, said that in a police interview the youth - who cannot be named for legal reasons - said there was an ongoing dispute between DSN and other gangs. She told the court: "He said DSN proclaimed Croydon as their turf and other gangs should not enter Croydon. This has caused problems as a number of other gangs have challenged this belief."

A series of confrontations in and around North End and the Whitgift Shopping Centre have erupted with no obvious explanation. The Advertiser understands most are part of the ongoing war involving members of the DSN gang. DSN began in the South Croydon and Waddon area. The gang has fought rivals such as SMN and this has caused trouble in the town centre shopping parade at North End and in the Whitgift, which has since stepped up security.

One teenage girl who grew up with some of DSN's 20-strong hardcore members described how the rivalry has fuelled the gang problem. She said: "There are a lot of African kids in DSN and I got to know them because I had the same background. "Hundreds of people belong to it - there are so many now that some have never even met each other. The youngest is 12 and the oldest is 31. But there are even more when you count the fact that DSN has alliances with at least four other gangs, as does SMN. The networks stretch across South London."

On December 8 a good Samaritan had his ear partially severed in North End after trying to stop a teenager being beaten by youths in an apparent gang initiation ceremony. Our source - who does not want to be named - believes it was nothing more than a ritual to impress the "elders". She said: "To get into a gang you have to shank [stab] or rob someone, take a beating or prove your badness in some way. Once you're in you can rise to the rank of general and recruit other people. But if you mess up, like a robbery where the police get involved, you get de-recruited. It is SMN that has the most younger members because there are more schools and estates where they live."

In last week's court case the boy - who denied being a member of either gang and is of previous good character - was given a three-month referral order and ordered to pay £20 costs. A few days after that brawl, on January 19, DSN reportedly clashed with another gang outside Croydon College. The fight led to a stabbing at East Croydon station which left a 16-year-old in intensive care. Hours after it had happened, a post on the gang's website claimed it had been a battle with the Gipset gang from Gipsy Hill. But the most graphic insight into DSN's world can be seen in a video posted on the MySpace social networking website. It shows a youth from another gang - with blood oozing from the side of his mouth and a look of terror in his eyes - being forced to strip naked by DSN members. He is then slapped and told to identify himself, show his gold teeth and repeat the name "DSN" and the name of one of its allied gangs several times. Elsewhere on another Internet site a member of DSN poses with a gun.

Police do not comment on individual gangs but admit that collectively they represent an "emerging" problem in Croydon. The borough force will launch a dedicated unit next month - which is also backed by Croydon Council - to tackle the issue.

The locals don't seem too happy about all this, although a grateful populace returned a Labour councillor with an increased percentage at a recent by-election.

It wasn't always like that. Betjeman's poem comes from another age. That Croydon is vanished 'once for all'.

Croydon

In a house like thatYour Uncle Dick was born;Satchel on back he walked to WhitgiftEvery weekday morn.

Boys together in Coulsdon woodlands,Bramble-berried and steep,He and his pals would look for spadgers,Buried deep.

The laurels are speckled in Marchmont Avenue Just as they were before,But the steps are dusty that still lead up toYour Uncle Dick's front door.

Pear and apple in Croydon gardensBud and blossom and fall,But your Uncle Dick has left his CroydonOnce for all.

Monday, February 12, 2007

hat-tip to Stephen. I can see there's a problem though. Many (though not all) councils have free parking on Sundays. Perhaps planning permission for mosques should be contingent on the construction of accompanying car parks.

The request was made by city councillors concerned about people attending mosques, churches, gurdwaras and temples in Spinney Hill ward.

However, the council said Vinci Park, the private contractor responsible for enforcement, would not be told to change its policy.

Since the beginning of this year, the company's wardens have handed out well over 4,000 tickets.

The request for leniency was made after a meeting of Spinney Hill and Stoneygate Area Committee at Moat Community College, Highfields, on Monday.

Spinney Hill ward councillor Mussa Saleh said: "We're in the process of having meetings with gurdwaras, temples and other places of worship. We asked that no action be taken at the moment.

"We want the parking officers to wait for these meetings to go ahead before they start ticketing."

When asked why drivers who practise religion should be treated differently, he replied: "The rules should apply equally, it's not just religions. If there is any event in the community, the same thing should happen."

During the meeting, Yahya Thadha, who represents the community sector on the committee, alleged that mosque leaders had had an "understanding" with police, who were in charge of policing on-street parking until January 2.

He said: "Mosques had an understanding with the police and we need to develop that understanding with the city council as a matter of urgency."

His comment was interrupted by Spinney Hill police station commander Inspector Nick Glynn, who denied the accusation.

He said: "There were no agreements between police and any mosque to say that illegal parking would not be dealt with.

"Agreements between mosques and police do not take place - and have not taken place in my reign as local policing unit commander."

After the meeting, Mr Thadha said: "The city council realises it is a sensitive issue and the council has been very good.

"I won't say they're turning a blind eye - they are still giving tickets to people who park dangerously or cause an obstruction - but they do want to bring the community together and have a discussion."

A council spokeswoman said a request had been made for allowances to be made at certain times, but denied it had been acted on.

She said officers planned to tell the area's councillors that no changes would be made to enforcement policies.

She said: "This request has been considered. The council intends to enforce the parking regulations across the city as planned."

Operation Yeoman was established to collect and disseminate intelligence on firearms-related criminality; a priority was to identify specific targets actively involved in gun crime. The ‘Dark Heart Crew’ (DHC), an organised group of 30 members, was identified and a network analysis completed. Its members were involved in Class A drugs supply, firearms, serious violence offences, disputes with neighbouring counties’ firearm gangs, and armed robberies. Members gained kudos by wearing of body armour and guns while frequenting nightclub premises.Intelligence on DHC members was weak because members had forged longstanding friendships from childhood, family and community connections - efforts to target individuals had provided limited success. This allowed them to establish their territory, accelerate their rise up the supply chain and reduce the risk of prosecution.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

The Sunday Times reports on an investigation into a London criminal family.

The police and MI5 set up a secret squad based in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, to dismantle the Adams organisation. The operation, codenamed Trinity, had to be completely secret as the family was thought to have corrupt police and customs officers on its payroll. Operation Trinity also bugged Tommy Adams’s black cab. He was overheard boasting that he had given a £10,000 donation to his local Labour party.

I seem to read this headline about five times a year. I wish they'd get on with it.

"A move to censure the liberal wing would dismay many followers in Europe and lead to charges of hypocrisy. According to the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM), some 100 bishops worldwide are homosexual, though many are not active."

If they're not active, it's not a problem. It's acts, not desires. We all desire to do things which are contrary to the Commandments. I know I do.

An enquiry will be set up. The Prison Governors' Association will express regret. The Prison Reform Trust, the Howard League, NACRO and other pro-criminal groups will castigate the Home Office, and their complaints will be amplified by their friends in the media.

Around a quarter of prison suicides are of the chief suspects in homicide cases.

Not a terribly usual name, Carty. Yet it seems to turn up in the news a lot.

Donnel Carty stabbed Tom Rhys Pryce to death for his mobile and credit cards.

The sixth man in the dock was Jermaine Carty, 24, of Cheyne Walk in Handsworth, Birmingham. Carty was acquitted on the orders of the judge of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, and by the jury of one charge of possessing a firearm. He was said to have been the real target for the gunmen that night. The jury heard Carty had taunted Ellis on stage at the Rosie O'Brien's club in Solihull, West Midlands, the night before the shootings. Mr Carty was said to have grabbed a microphone to lay down a challenge to Ellis and his friends. Timothy Raggatt QC, prosecuting, said: "He was engaging in what amounted to taunting provocation directed at the Burger Bar group, boasting about the Johnsons and so on."

Mr Carty also made it clear he was carrying a handgun in the club, Mr Raggatt said.